Rotary engine



' (No Model.) 7

W. WILLERTON & T. SHORTLIFF.

- ROTARY ENGINE.

No. 604,641. Patented May 24,1898.

WITNESSES 1 1a //v VEN r5 j BY I I A TTOHNE s.

lln'ifrnn Sterne PATENT (lumen.

WILLIAM WILLERTON AND THOMAS SHORTLIFF, OF KIPP, MONTANA.

ROTARY ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming art Of Letters Eatent N0. 604,641, dated May 24,1898.

Application filed July 27, 1897. fierial No. 646,084. (No model.)

county of Teton andState of Montana, have invented a new and ImprovedRotary Engine, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved rotaryengine which is sim ple and durable in construction, very effective inoperation, and arranged to utilize the motive agent to the fullestadvantage.

The invention consists principally of a casing provided with pivotedabutments and a revoluble piston in the form of a wheel and forming,withthe said casing, an annular working chamber for the motive agent andpistonheads pivoted on the web of the said wheel and traveling on theinner wall of the said chamber.

The invention also consists of certain parts and details andcombinations of the same, as will be fully described hereinafter andthen pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a sectional plan view of the improvement on the line 1 1 ofFig. 2. Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation of the same on the line 2 2of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a face view of the revoluble piston andpiston-heads, and Fig. 4 is a plan view of one of the abutments.

The improved rotary engine illustrated in the drawings is provided witha casing A, formed on one face with a hub A, against which abuts thecentral portion of apiston B, made in the form of a wheel having a solidweb, and a rim B, concentric to the hub A and fitting With its outeredge into'a'n annular groove A formed on the inner face of the casing A.By the arrangement described the piston B forms, with the casing A, anannular working chamber 0, of which the outer wall 4 is the rim B andthe inner wall is formed by the hub A. A

The piston B is secured on a shaftD,mounted to rotate in the hub A ofthe casing, and on the said shaft is secured or formed a collar D,engaging the hub B of the said piston B to hold the latter against thehub A,

swing inwardly to allow the Nuts D screw on the outer end of the shaft Dto abut against a washer E, held 011 the outer face of the casing A. Theshaft D is provided with the usual means for transmitting the rotarymotion of the engine to other machinery.

In the working chamber 0 extend a series of piston-heads F, pivoted neartheir outer ends at F to the web of the piston B, the inner ends of thesaid piston-heads being provided with friction-rollers F traveling onthe peripheral surface of the hub A. Abutments G also extend into theannular working chamber C and are pivoted near their inner endsabutments and piston-heads being so arranged that when the pistonrotates the piston-heads F swing outwardly, while the abutments Gpiston-heads to pass the abutments. v

Into'the annular chamber 0 open diametrically-arranged inlet-ports a a,formed in the casing A and connected with steam-supply pipes H, andexhaust-ports Z) Z) likewise open into the chamber 0 and are connectedat their outer ends with exhaust-pipes I. The inlet-ports a a arelocated near the rim B, while the exhaust-ports b are located near thehub A,-and the said ports are alternately arranged and placed suitabledistances apart, as is plainly indicated in Fig. 2. Now by reference tothe said figure it will be seen that the steam entering the port apresses the next piston-head F, with its friction-roller F in engagementwith the hub A, while the outer end of the said piston-head restsagainst the inner face of the rim B. In a like manner the steam pressesagainst the abutment G, so as to hold the friction-roller G2 thereof inengagement with the inner face of the rim B. Now the pressure of steam011 the abutment F imparts a traveling motion to the piston B, so as torotate the same in the direction of the arrow 0, and at the same time asimilar impulse is given to the piston B by the steam passing throughthe port a into the space between the corresponding abutment G andpiston-head F. When the forwardlymoving piston-head F passes the nextexhaust-port b or b, then the steam in the rear of. the said piston-headcan exhaust, it being understood that in the meanwhile anotherpiston-head has passed the preceding inletport. Thus continuous impulsesare given to the piston-head B by the steam pressing at all timesagainst some of the piston-heads to insure a continuous rotary motion ofthe piston. The rotating piston B is preferably inclosed in a suitableJ, attached to thecasing A, as indicated in Fig. 1.

It is understood that when a piston-head F passes an abutment G then thelatter yields inwardly against the pressure of the exhauststeamcontained between the next piston-head and the said abutment; but assoon as the piston-head F has passed such abutment and the correspondinginlet-port then the steam from the latter will act at once on both theabut ment and the piston-head, so as to move them into their properpositions-that is, with their friction-rollers F and G against the hub Aand the rim B, respectively.

Having thus fully described our invention, We claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent- 1. A rotary engine, comprising a casing formedwith a hub and having pivoted abutments, a revoluble piston in the formof a wheel having a rim concentric to the hub of the casing and formingwith the said hub an annular working chamber, the said abutments beingpivoted near their inner ends and each having a heel at said end adaptedto rest against the inner wall or hub, the outer ends of said abutmentsbeing adapted to travel on the inner surface of the said rim, andpistonheads pivoted near their outer ends on the Web of the said wheel,the inner ends of the said piston-heads being adapted to travel on theperipheral surface of the hub, substantially as described.

2. A rotary engine, comprising a casing formed on one face withahub, thesaid casing having inlet and exhaust ports alternately arranged, apiston mounted to turn and having its central portion engaging the saidhub of the casing, the piston having a solid web and a rim concentric tothe said hub of the casing and having its outer edge fitted to turn inan annular groove formed on the inner face of the casing, therebyforming with the casing an annular working chamber, the said pistonbeing provided with piston-heads pivoted near their outer ends to theweb of the said piston and mounted to swingin the said chamber, theinner ends of the said piston-heads being provided with friction-rollersadapted to travel on the peripheral surface of the hub of the casing,and abutments pivoted near their inner ends to the hub of said casing atopposite points and normally'extending tangentially therefrom,the saidabutments being provided at their outer ends with frictionrollersarranged to travel on the inner surface of the rim of the piston, thesaid abutments and piston-heads being so arranged that when the pistonrotates the piston-heads swing outwardly while the abutments swinginwardly to allow the piston-heads to pass the abutments, substantiallyas set forth.

3. A rotary engine, comprising a casing, and a piston mounted to turnand forming with the said casing an annular working chamber and pivotedabutments and pivoted piston-heads within the working chamber andadapted to pass one another, the said abutments being pivoted near theirinner ends to the inner fixed wall of said working chamber and providedwith friction-rollers at their outer ends adapted to rest against theinner surface of the rim of the piston, and the said piston-heads beingpivoted near their outer ends on the movable piston and having theirinner ends provided with friction -rollers adapted to engage the innerfixed wall of the said working chamber, the said casing being providedwith inlet-ports opening into the said annular chamber forward of saidabutments, and outlet ports leading from said annular chamber andlocated at the rear of said abutments, the inlet-ports being locatednear the outer wall of the annular chamber and the outlet-ports near theinner wall thereof, the said ports being alternately arranged,substantially as shown and described.

4:. A rotary engine, comprising a casing, a piston mounted to turn andforming with the said casing an annular working chamber, abutmentspivoted near their inner ends to the inner fixed wall of the chamber atopposite points and adapted to engage with their outer ends the innersurface of the rim of the piston, piston-heads pivoted near their outerends to the movable piston and having their inner ends adapted to engagethe inner fixed wall of the working chamber, the said casing beingprovided with oppositely-arranged inlet-ports opening into the saidannular Working chamber at a point forward of said abutments, the casingbeing also provided with oppositely-arranged outlet-ports opening intothe annular chamber at the rear of the abutments, the said pivotedabutments and pivoted piston-heads being adapted to pass one another andarranged to be returned to their normal positions by pressure of themotive agent, substantially as set forth.

5. A rotary engine, comprising a casing, a revoluble piston forming withthe said casing an annular working chamber, two oppositelyarrangedabutments pivoted near their inner ends to the casing and resting withtheir inner ends against the inner wall of the chamber, the saidabutments carrying frictionrollers at their outer ends adapted to restagainst the rim of the piston, the said abutments normally extendingtangentially from the inner Wall of the annular working chamher and inopposite directions, piston-heads pivoted near their outer ends on theweb of the piston and adapted to rest with their outer ends against therim of the piston and their chamber at the rear of said abntnients,subinner ends on the inner Wall of the chamber, the piston-heads being"three in number, the said casin g being provided withdiametricallyztrranged inlet-ports opening into the annu- 1&1 workingchamber forward of the said ahntnients, and 0nt1et-p0rts opening intosaid stantielly as set forth.

WILLIAM WILLERTON. THOMAS SHORTLIFF. Witnesses:

MOLTON S. ROGERS,

F, PETTIBON.

